Topics

In June of 2009, Patheos hosted a collection of articles on Death in our Public Square, specifically what we some view as "good death" and what some view as "bad death". We have grouped those articles here for your convenience. Select a tradition below to navigate directly to the perspectives on Good Death/Bad Death.

Catholic | Evangelical | Jewish | Mainline Protestant | Mormon | Muslim | Pagan

 

General Articles

Legitimate Illegitimate Acts of Violence

By John Esposito
Can Muslims reassert orthodoxy in the face of fundamentalist revolt?

On Life and Death

By Antoinette Bosco
I have often been asked why I am still a Christian when I have lived through the worst nightmares a mother can have - the deaths of three children.

A Black Catholic Supports the Death Penalty

By Gregory Kane
Think all African-Americans and Roman Catholics are of like mind on capital punishment? Think again.

Buddhism and Assisted Suicide

By Damien Keown
Buddhist teachings on non-harming strongly oppose the taking of any life, including one's own.

Catholic Perspectives on Good Death/Bad Death

On Life and Death

By Antoinette Bosco
I have often been asked why I am still a Christian when I have lived through the worst nightmares a mother can have - the deaths of three children.

Hope in Dying Or False Hope in Living

By Daneen Warner
What is the Catholic perspective on death and dying when viewed through the lens of hope in the Divine?

Evangelical Perspectives on Good Death/Bad Death

Devoted to Living with the Dying

By A.C. Weimer
How Evangelicals might recover the act of visiting the sick as spiritual practice.

Their Blood Cries Out

By Brandon Bayne
Biblical language of innocent martyrs deserves justice, but demands patience.

Jewish Perspectives on Good Death/Bad Death

The Dialetic of Capital Punishment

By Rabbi Benjamin Hecht
Who am I, as a human being, to render a decision regarding the nature of another person, which declares him/her evil and deserving of the death penalty?

Acting in the Name of God

By Rabbi Scott Perlo
The chilling twist of the word "martyr" in our day is that it has come to be synonymous with murder.

Progressive Christian Perspectives on Good Death/Bad Death

Choosing Justice With Life

By Sarah Moses
There is a better way to protect our society from violence than killing those who perpetrate it.

Martyrdrom: A Christian View

By Rakesh Peter Daas
Martyrdom was the zenith of faith at a time when being a Jesus-follower was punishable by torture and death.

Mormon Perspectives on Good Death/Bad Death

Blessed are the Dead which Die in the Lord

By Jonathan Stapley
With the hope of resurrection and the preservation of earthly friends and kin in the eternities, death lost its sting.

Death in the Latter Day Saint Tradition

By Samuel Brown
In crucial respects Joseph Smith's theology and ritual system charted for his followers the path to a world beyond death.

Muslim Perspectives on Good Death/Bad Death

Legitimate, Illegitimate Acts of Violence

By John L. Esposito
Can Muslims reassert orthodoxy in the face of fundamentalist revolt?

I Would Die to Defend my Community

By John L. Esposito
Britain "couldn't have come through both wars if they hadn't the Indian army" --Field Marshall Sir Claude Auchinleck

Pagan Perspectives on Good Death/Bad Death

Kissing my Mother Goodbye

By Elizabeth Zagorski
This is the good death: she once more knew only the purest and truest Love.

Euthanasia and Paganism

By Melinda M. Wilding
Needless suffering trumps everything in the debate. The doctor is there as facilitator, not culprit.